The last time we met, we talked about Jesus before Pilot. We talked about him being beaten, and mocked. We talked about Pilot wanting to release him, because he had found no fault in Jesus. Our study this evening begins at the point we left off the last time. Pilot had taken Jesus back inside to question him again, asking him if he was the King of the Jews. When Jesus refused to answer him, Pilot asked why he didn’t speak, saying don’t you realize that I have the power to release you or to have you put to death. Jesus answered that Pilot had no power but the power which was given to him from above.

John 19:12-13 12. And from thenceforth Pilate sought to release him: but the Jews cried out, saying, If thou let this man go, thou art not Caesar's friend: whosoever maketh himself a king speaketh against Caesar. 13. When Pilate therefore heard that saying, he brought Jesus forth, and sat down in the judgment seat in a place that is called the Pavement, but in the Hebrew, Gabbatha.

[A] Pilot sought to release him. [1] He was more and more convinced of Christ innocence [2] He was more unwilling to yield him up because of the malice and envy of the Jewish leaders.

[B] The Jews cried out [1] What we are seeing here is not the Jewish people, instead it was the Jewish leaders, the Scribes and Pharisees, [2] Those leaders stirred up the people into a mob, and incited them to cry out against Jesus. [a] This moved Pilate to deliver Jesus into their hands even though he knew in his heart that Jesus was innocent. [b] He feared that he would be accused of unfaithfulness to the interests of the Roman emperor if he did not condemn a man whose own nation was accusing of sedition. [c] The Roman emperor who was then on the throne was jealous and tyrannical, and the fear of losing his favor with the Emperor induced Pilate to deliver Jesus into the hands of the Jews to be Crucified. [d] Pilate allowed Jesus to be killed, not because of justice, but out of fear. He feared for his job and he feared the mob might riot. [1-a] How often does fear have a factor in our decisions? [2-a] Can fear override common sense and knowing what is right?

[C] If you are Caesar's friend. – If you are the friend of the Roman emperor. [1] The name of the reigning emperor of Rome was Tiberius. [2] After Julius Caesar all of the emperors were called Caesar, just as all the kings of Egypt were called Pharaohs. [a] Tiberius, during the latter part of his reign, was the most cruel, jealous, and wicked Emperor who ever sat on the throne of Rome.

[D] Pilot brought Jesus fourth and sat down at the Judgment-seat. [1] The Judgment seat was the place where judgment was pronounced against a prisoner [a] Here he brought Jesus to deliver him, in due form of law, into the hands of the Jews.

[E] The place was called the Pavement. [1] The pavement was an area or a room of the judgment-hall whose floor was made of small square stones of various colors. [2] This was common in palaces and houses of wealth and splendor.

[F] IN the Hebrew, it was called Gabbatha. [1] The word Gabbatha is not used elsewhere in the bible. [a] It comes from a word that signifies elevated.

John 19:14 14. And it was the preparation of the Passover, and about the sixth hour: and he saith unto the Jews, Behold your King!

[A] The preparation for the Passover [1] The day of the preparation was a day that proceeded a day of a special Sabbath. [2] On this day, everything that was to be used on that special day, would be prepared, all the food and so on, so that no work had to be done on that day. [3] This day is not to be confused with the Jewish Sabbath day, which was on Saturday, but instead was a Special Sabbath which fell on whatever day the Passover fell. This could be any day of the week, yet was treated as a Sabbath day, and no work was done on it. If that day fell on the day preceding the Sabbath, then there would have been two Sabbaths in a row, and food would have to be prepared for both, on the day of preparation.

[B] It was the sixth hour. [1] Here again we have a small conflict in scripture. [a] John wrote that it was the sixth hour, which would be twelve o’clock or noon [b] Mark wrote that it was the third hour, which would be nine o’clock in the morning which is found in Mark 15:25 [1-a] Scoffers of scripture, often use these two statements to try an prove that the bible is inaccurate and indeed is would appear by the two different time to be so. [2-a] To understand, let’s take a closer look at what both writers said. [a-1] John said it was about the sixth hour. [b-1] Mark said it was the third hour. [3-a] John was speaking in approximate times but Mark spoke in exact time [4-a] It is usually determined that the time that Pilot pronounced sentence on Jesus was the third hour, nine o’clock and the time of Christ’s crucifixion was at the sixth hour, twelve o’ clock. [5-a] If the time John gave was accurate, it would have been extremely hard for Jesus to have been pronounced, and he along with the other two prisoners forced to carry their crosses to Calvary which was located outside of town, some distance from the place of judgment, and then for Jesus to have hung on the cross for six hours, to have died and been removed and placed in the tomb before sundown. [6-a] There are other factors which point to the nine o’clock being the accurate time, but I believe what I have said here will suffice.

[C] Pilot brought Jesus out before the people and said, “Behold your King” [1] I wonder why he said this, [a] Was it to see what the people would say? [b] Was it to slur them? [c] Did he actually believe that Jesus was a king?

John 19:15 15. But they cried out, Away with him, away with him, crucify him. Pilate saith unto them, Shall I crucify your King? The chief priests answered, We have no king but Caesar.

[A] The Jews response to Pilot’s remark of Jesus being their King was [1] Crucify him [2] Away with him

[B] Pilot asked if he was to crucify their King [1] Then the chief priests answered [a] We have no King but Cesar [2] I want to stop here for a few minutes to explore what they Chief priest said. [a] At the conception of the nation of Israel, and for a number of years after they cane out of Egypt, Israel had no king. [b] Instead of Kings, Israel was governed by Judges, who were appointed by God and whom led the armies of Israel into battle and judged them [c] God was the King of Israel, and they had no other King [d] In the time of Samuel, the people started demanding a king. Samuel was furious at the people, but God told him, to anoint a king for them. He anointed Saul to be their first king. [e] Because Saul disobeyed God, his kingdom was taken away from his family and given to David. [f] God established a covenant with David, stating as long as David’s sons followed God like David had, they would remain on the throne forever. [g] David’s Son Solomon succeeded David on the throne. He started out as a Godly man, but he married many women, women from many different nations. Those women corrupted him, and he began to worship strange Gods with them. Because of David and the promise he made him, God let Solomon remain on the throne of Israel, but when Solomon’s son took the throne, God divided the kingdom, with ten tribes becoming the nation of Israel and one tribe becoming the nation of Judah. Each nation had their own king, and they battled against each other almost continuously. [h] Because Israel continued to sin against God, and had leaders who were corrupt and followed strange Gods and led the people to worship them as well. God raised up the Assyrians to war against Israel, and they defeated the nation, and carried them off into captivity. At that time the nation of Israel ceased to exist. There was no longer a king in Israel. [i] Judah continued to exist for several hundred years after Israel was no more. During that time, descendants of David remained on the throne, some were godly and some were ungodly. As the years progressed, the people and the kings progressively got more and more ungodly, and finally, God raised an army to defeat them as well. The Babylonians invaded Israel, and defeated Jerusalem. At that time they carried off man of the princes, and educated people from Judah. Among them were Shadrach, Meshach and Abendago along with Daniel the Prophet. [j] Judah was under the control of Babylon for a number of years, yet still had a descendant of David on the throne as a ruler, under the control of Babylon. Then Judah rebelled against Babylon, and as toll of God, Babylon invaded Israel, besieged Jerusalem, and destroyed the City and everything in it, including the temple of God. [k] From that moment on, there was never a king on the throne in Jerusalem. [3] When the high priest said they had no king, they spoke a very true statement. [a] The Jews had denied God as their king many years before. [b] The King GOD had placed on their throne was removed and they no longer had an earthly king to lead them. [c] The King of King and the Lord of Lords who had walked among them was about to be crucified. [d] Jesus, who is a descendant of David, and heir to the throne was rejected by Israel, and the only king they had was Caesar under whose rule they were at that time. [e] Even today, Israel is not under the rule of the descendant of David, nor are they under the rule of God, instead they elect their leaders much like we elect our president, and to be a citizen of Israel, you cannot be a Christian. If a Christian applies for citizenship, they are rejected. All other religions are accepted, even atheist, only Christians are denied. They still have no king, in Israel, not on the throne, or in their hearts. [4] Today’s Israelites are awaiting the coming messiah, whom they believe will come and set up his kingdom in Jerusalem. They do not believe that the messiah has already come once, nor do they believe that he will come again in the clouds. It is true that he will come again like they hope, but this will happen after the church is raptured away and after the first Armageddon. After the church is taken to heaven, Christ will come and set up his kingdom among the Jews. The new temple will be built and the Jews will come to believe in Jesus, but for now, there is no king in Jerusalem. [5] The good news is, we have a king, and His name is King Jesus. His kingdom is in us, and he is our ruler as well as our lord. We bow to him as a king, but he receives us as his brother or his sister. He is the true ruler and the one who is to have all that the Father has, yet he will give us an equal share along with him. Jesus I is our savior, our Kings and our friend. Unfortunately, the Jewish race still does not accept him or acknowledge his existence at their king.

[C] Questions [1] BY reading the scriptures, it would appear that the Scribes and Pharisees weren’t the only people who called out to Pilate to Crucify Jesus [a] What would cause a people who just several days before, had proclaimed Jesus to be their King, and waved palm branches and so on, to change their cry from Hosanna to Crucify? [b] Why were they so easily swayed in their thinking? [2] We act in the same manor sometimes as the Jews did, maybe not in such a drastic example, yet we allow ourselves to be led by others instead of following our own beliefs and thoughts. [a] Why do we allow what others are doing and saying, affect what we do or say? [b] What causes us to allow the thinking of others, to make us change our way of thinking? [c] Does logical thinking, and a good argument, override what God taught in his Holy Word? [3] How could you best describe Pilate? [4] How could you best describe the Priest of Jesus day? [5] How could you best describe the people?

John 19:16-22 16. Then delivered he him therefore unto them to be crucified. And they took Jesus, and led him away. 17. And he bearing his cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull, which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha: 18. Where they crucified him, and two other with him, on either side one, and Jesus in the midst. 19. And Pilate wrote a title, and put it on the cross. And the writing was JESUS OF NAZARETH THE KING OF THE JEWS. 20. This title then read many of the Jews: for the place where Jesus was crucified was nigh to the city: and it was written in Hebrew, and Greek, and Latin. 21. Then said the chief priests of the Jews to Pilate, Write not, The King of the Jews; but that he said, I am King of the Jews. 22. Pilate answered, What I have written I have written.

[A] Pilate delivered Jesus up to be crucified. I want to get into this more the next time, so we are going to skim over this tonight [1] From our studies it appears that Pilate believed Jesus to be innocent [2] Why would he condemn an innocent man to death? [3] Does fear for your position, and or the masses cause our leaders to do things they normally would not do or to make the wrong decisions?

[B] Pilate had a sign made which said JESUS OF NAZARETH THE KING OF THE JEWS [1] It was written in three languages [a] Hebrew [b] Greek [c] Latin [2] Why would he place a sign saying these words on the cross? [a] The inscription itself which Pilate wrote, and ordered to be fixed to the top of the cross, declaring the cause for which he was crucified, [b] Pilate intended this for his reproach that he, being Jesus of Nazareth, should pretend to be king of the Jews, and be in competition with Caesar, [c] God, on the other hand used it to further the testimony proclaiming the innocence of Jesus; [1-a] As it was worded, it contained no crime. [a-1] Posting the person’s crime was a common practice. [b-1] This is why they asked Pilate to write he said he was the king of the Jews [2-a] If this was all that Pilate had to lay charge to him, he had done nothing worthy of death or of bonds. [d] It’s interesting that Pilate had the sign written in three languages, [e] It is also interesting that the bible says that many of the Jews, [1-a] It would have been read by many others besides the Jews, anyone passing by that could read any of the three languages would have read the inscription. [3] Do you think that Pilate believed Jesus to be the King of the Jews, or for what reason did he place the placard on the cross like he did, after all, he told the Jews, what I have written, I have written?

[C] This is where we shall stop for this evening, Next time we will look at the crucifixion itself, along with the suffering of Jesus.